Historic clothing collection will be on display at shopping center

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoaʻs Apparel Product Design and Merchandising Program's Historic Costume Collection will be unveiled at an exhibit at Ala Moana Center called "Fifty Years of Fashion in Hawaiʻi," featuring island fashions that have helped shape Hawaiʻiʻs fashion culture over the last five decades.

The exhibit celebrates Ala Moanaʻs 50th anniversary and is in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi Fashion Incubator. It will feature more than 50 colorful garments of the last 50 years from the universityʻs Historic Costume Collection.

The collection is one of the largest held by a U.S. university and has more than 20,000 garments, textiles and related objects.

The exhibit is scheduled to be publicly available Aug. 13-31 during mall hours. "Fifty Years of Fashion in Hawaiʻi" will be the largest showcase of the collection shown outside of the university, and will be free and open to the public.

The exhibit will include an Ala Moana Center retrospective and feature displays of swimwear, aloha attire, eveningwear and era-inspired fashion wear. Garments on display will include a 1950s Alfred Shaheen aloha dress, a 1960s Miss Hawaiʻi womenʻs bathing suits and feather hats, and a 1970s Elizabeth Arden beaded maxi skirt.

Current fashions inspired by past eras, archived fashion magazines, and notable Ala Moana Center advertisements will also be on display.